Essence
by Desktop Warrior
Summary: Everything, both physical and spiritual, has an essence that exists in the world of perfect forms. That essence is pre-determined, and cannot be altered. Todd-centric.


**Disclaimer:** I don't own Pokémon. It belongs to The Pokémon Company, GAMEFREAK, and associated organizations.

This work contains minor spoilers for my multi-chapter work, _It's a Whole New World,_ but can still be enjoyed without knowledge of that story.

* * *

**Essence**

_ SNAP!_

The cliché goes that each picture is a thousand words. But Todd doesn't like clichés. He's never been much for words himself. He expresses his feelings through images, through the manipulation of the natural world as it is filtered through the lens of his camera. So each picture to him is a thought. A memory. A picture is the combination of those exact substances in that exact moment of time. A picture – not the physical thing or the digital file, but its essence in that world of perfect forms – cannot be duplicated.

_SNAP!_

He'd gotten the moniker Todd 'Snap' at an early age, not long after his parents and he had discovered his preternatural talent for photography. They'd helped him nurture that talent, supporting him in any way they could with their limited funding. He will never forget the joy on their faces when they finally managed to buy that little cottage near Fuchsia City with the money he'd earned from the sales of the _Pokémon Times_ magazine. Not that they'd coerced him into it. He'd fallen in love with the place at first sight. This picture shows the elation of that couple, and of their nine-year-old son, already having achieved fame and fortune. It is as much about the house as the people living inside it, and Todd feels that he was never happier in his life than at that moment.

_SNAP!_

Brendan likes to tease him about being a child prodigy who's fixated on his passion, and he laughs along with his friend. It's only been a week since Todd met May and him, but they act like they've known each other for years. It puts him in mind of another group of people he met years ago, a noisy but incredibly kind-hearted trio with a Pikachu that never went inside its Pokéball. They're standing in an open field, posing for the camera – one of the few contrived pictures he's deigned to take. He sets the timer on his camera, then runs to join them. But he trips on a dropped rice ball and stumbles into them. The whole situation is so comical that they all end up laughing. It's one of the best shots he's ever taken. Yes, it shows an unexpected turn of events that is, in its own way, as natural as the pictures of wild Pokémon he takes. But it's about more than that. He swallows as he gazes at Ash, Misty, and Brock's hilarious expressions. It's about friends.

_ SNAP!_

The crowd is gathered in anticipation. It's not a particularly important battle, at least not for most of them. But the boy in the baseball cap is glowing with pride. Using a clever stratagem which amplified his opponent's attack and then turned that against it, he managed to win the first round of his exam. And with a Weezing that didn't even belong to him. Though headstrong, he can show some skill when he puts in the effort. Todd knows that if he can just learn to be consistent, Ash may even become a League Champion. He smiles, his friend's boundless confidence in that moment seeping through the picture even now. As it turned out, Ash unfortunately switched to his usual head-on attacks in his last two battles and lost both of them. Given another chance at the exam, Ash refused, deciding he wanted to improve in his own way. Ash doesn't feel that the exam helped him, but Todd, viewing it from another angle, disagrees. What the young Trainer did learn that day was the value of making his own choices, following his own path and developing his own style. He will make plenty of mistakes, like everyone else. But he'll also enjoy plenty of successes. This very picture is proof that when Ash is serious, he is a force to reckon with.

_ SNAP!_

Cages. A whole section of one of his older albums is dedicated to cages. A Nidorino lies slumped, its eyelids half-closed. It's too exhausted to even try breaking down the bars anymore. Its Oddish neighbour whimpers softly, the Weed Pokémon's crowning leaves small and withered from days spent in darkness. A Poliwag sits dejectedly, not daring to think of the young humans as its rescuers – not when its own Trainer left it here to rot. Finally, a conveyor belt leads deeper inside the warehouse disguised as a Breeding Centre, onto which the cages are loaded and then presumably sent to wherever they're meant to go. As the rage builds inside him, he struggles to remember that these images only hold the specific moments in their essence. But he can't disassociate the Breeding Centre scam from the deep-seated insecurity he doesn't even admit to himself. Ash, Misty, and Brock all stood up to Butch and Cassidy, fighting alongside their Pokémon, the partners they'd grown so close to in their adventures. What did Todd do? He took pictures. Isn't that all he can do, at the end of the day? He shakes his head. This is not supposed to be his train of thought. He's always been able to prioritize and divide tasks with utmost efficiency. That mindset is a pillar of his career. There's no room for irregularity. With a deep breath, he closes the album. The uncertainty recedes.

_SNAP!_

They've been married for fifty years. They worked together, played together, laughed and suffered together, their hair greying together. In this fiftieth year of marriage, their love is as firm and passionate as it was when they were teenagers, an era so long ago that it seems like an alien world now. He has his arm draped around her shoulder, her head leaning ever-so-slightly on his neck. Behind them are forests, mountains, streams…and a field of Sunflora as far as the eye can see. Thousands of smiling faces join together in celebration of two people's love. As heartfelt as this moment is, it's also something Todd has never quite been able to understand. Not really. He knows what attachment is. He can describe in words the difference between platonic and romantic attachment, or jealousy, obsession, addiction, or lust. There is something beyond what can be described in words, though, and that is exactly the essence this picture captures. It's a culmination of this very specific and strong attachment that's been built up over the years through so many experiences. He knows it's there, but he has no words for it. On occasion, he wishes he did. That's another one of those things that doesn't make sense. What does the essence of that moment have to do with the present, beautifully indescribable as it is? And why is it accompanied by this sense that something is missing? _Something from his own life._ But he smiles. There is nothing more to be said. It is beautiful.

_ SNAP!_

To finally realize one's goal after months of fruitless effort is something Todd does understand, for a change. So it is for the gruff but devoted father and his young daughter, who joyfully embrace each other and their three Swinub. He takes a certain pride in knowing he helped them make their dream a reality. The bleak plateau, which he helped to excavate with his own hands, is no longer an isolated point in the wilderness between Ecruteak and Olivine City, but home to a thriving hot spring resort. That moment is simultaneously an end and a beginning. For Rory and Peggy, it means the end of months of hardship and worry and the beginning of a new time of prosperity, all due to the hot spring they discovered. Todd reflects on his own labours and smiles. Just like new excavation methods have changed the industry, so has his work moved from the darkroom to the computer; he's not as traditional as the father-daughter team and their Pokémon. Nonetheless, he knows the same thrill. He feels it every time he finds that perfect moment in nature and then tweaks it just right with his trusty photo editing program. It's not even about seeing his name in every popular magazine, though that's definitely a bonus. It's about something much deeper: each successful picture, each essence he captures, further confirms that he's made the right choice in life.

_SNAP!_

How soon after helping Rory and Peggy would Todd realize his own goal! The raw emotion in that picture truly is overwhelming, even for Todd, who normally tempers his excitement. But that evening, he'd rushed out into the blistering cold just like Ash would've done. Thinking back, it was only afterward, sitting in front of the hot kettle at the Pokémon Centre, that Todd realized he and Ash nearly died falling down the icy cliff. But they lived. In front of him is the entire reason behind his first trip to Johto. Feathers like brilliant blue icicles, tail trailing behind it and billowing in the icy wind, haunting red eyes. He owes Articuno his life. Ash suggested that the Legendary wanted Todd to photograph it as thanks for rescuing Team Rocket, and Todd agreed at the time. But now, he's not so sure. _He owes Articuno his life._ Only now does he think he grasps the true significance of this concept, for what is his life? His photography, that which is a lifestyle, a career, and a goal in the same instance. It's why Articuno allowed itself to be photographed. The essence of that picture is Todd's own essence, a physical representation of what he imagines to be his ideal self. Todd brushes away a tear. Perhaps, through his passion, he actually is able to accomplish something deeper.

_SNAP!_

The top of a hill overlooks a picturesque tourist town, ethereal in the filmy haze of the early morning sunlight. The outskirts of the town give way to pine forests which he knows teem with wild Pokémon. In the distance, a mighty waterfall pours into a bay. This is Todd's latest picture, so new that it hasn't even been laminated into an album yet. He just took it this morning, after all. A grin splits his face. He can still hear Brendan calling them Slowpokes, May griping about how early it is. With a yawn, he remembers that he's still pretty tired, too. And yet, the picture is invigorating. There is a feeling of novelty and anticipation, the knowledge that there's still so much more to see. It is with that thought in mind that Todd realizes his essence is mutable. He's a photographer, and that will always be a crucial part of his being. But as his experiences have shown, he's more than that. As Brendan calls him over to take another picture of the three of them, Todd is finally beginning to understand that he is a friend.


End file.
